Climate researcher placed on administrative leave

CLIMATE

Five years ago, Charles Monnett was one of the scientists whose observation that several polar bears had drowned in the Arctic Ocean helped galvanize the global warming movement.

Now the wildlife biologist is on administrative leave and facing accusations of scientific misconduct.

The federal agency where he works told him he's being investigated for "integrity issues," but a watchdog group believes it has to do with the 2006 journal article about the bear.

The group, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, filed a complaint on his behalf Thursday with the agency, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement.

A government spokeswoman, Melissa Schwartz, said there was an "ongoing internal investigation" but declined to get into specifics.

Monnett could not immediately be reached Thursday.

In 2004, he and researcher Jeffrey Gleason were conducting an aerial survey of bowhead whales and saw four dead polar bears floating in the water after a storm, according to documents provided by Jeff Ruch, director of the watchdog group.

Monnett and Gleason detailed their observations in an article published two years later in the journal Polar Biology. In the peer-reviewed article, they said they were reporting, to the best of their knowledge, the first observations of the bears floating dead and presumed drowned while apparently swimming long distances.

In May 2008, the bear was classified as a threatened species, the first with its survival at risk due to global warming.